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Monday, November 25, 2013

Jinguashi

I went to Jinguashi just a few months ago, but I decided it
was worth visiting again to see the golden waterfalls I had missed on my last
trip.

Jinguashi (金瓜石) is a quaint mountain town in the Ruifang District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. It is known for it's
historic gold and copper mines. It is situated on KeelungMountain
(基隆山).
right next to the coastline, which makes
for exquisite views. It is known as Kinkaseki in Japanese from the period when
it was under Japanese control. It was used as a POW camp from 1942 to 1945.

Arrangement of houses in Jinguashi. The Cyuanji Temple with the Guan gong deity on top is in the top right side

I took the Yilan express train to Ruifang (Taipei Padu-
Rueifang- Ilan- Suao). The last time I was here with Andy, we took a taxi to
Jinguashi, which costs about NT$240. This time I opted for the bus (On these
busy narrow mountain roads, taking a taxi doesn't seem to be any faster). To get to the bus stop, walk out of the
station, cross the pavilion, and cross the road. There is a bus stop there. The
bus does not stop here on weekends, so if you are there over a weekend, turn
left and continue walking to the next bus stop. The sign on the bus will say
"Jinguashi (金瓜石)." There
are also buses from both Taipei and Keelung which go to
Jinguashi and Jiufen. I took the bus all
the way from Taipei
a few years ago on a trip to Jiufen. It was a crazy ride, and I wouldn't
recommend this to people with weak stomachs. If you dare, you can go to bus
stop by Zhongxiao-Fuxing MRT station, exit 1. The bus will be from the Keelung
Bus Company and say "Jinguashi (金瓜石)."

GoldEcologicalPark
(黃金博物館區)

The bus stops right by the GoldEcologicalPark, which is the main
attraction for visitors here. The small park preserves and reproduces the
town's mining heritage to recreate the atmosphere of 1930s Taiwan. It includes a gold museum
and a number of renovated residences from the Japanese Colonial Era. The
excellent translations around the park and incredibly helpful information
centre make for an extremely tourist-friendly destination.

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Entrance to Benshan Tunnel

The first building on the route is the Japanese
‘Four-Joined’ Style Residence, an old typicalJapanese-style
Residence from when Taiwan
was still a Japanese colony. I hear it is interesting inside, but I gave it a
miss as there was a long queue outside both times I walked past, and there were
many other things I wanted to see.

Further along the route is the Crown Prince Chalet, another
traditional Japanese style house once occupied by Emperor Hirohito. The
interior of this house is off-limits, but the beautiful garden complete with a small
golf course and archery range is worth seeing.

The Museum
of Gold (黃金館) is
in the former offices of the Taiwan Metal Mining Corporation.The first floor contains numerous artifacts from
the town's mining history, including tools, mining transport systems, and
cultural artifacts.On the second floor of
the GoldMuseum you can see various products made
of gold and the world's largest gold brick. You can even touch this 220
kilogram pure gold brick!

The Benshan Fifth Tunnel (本山五坑),is an abandoned mine next to the GoldMuseum.It is an interesting place to learn more
about the daily activities of miners. There is a $NT50 entrance fee. Benshan
used to be called "Dajingua" (大金瓜), which means "big
pumpkin" in Chinese. The discovery of gold here was the catalyst for the
prosperous development of Jiufen and Jinguashi. The tunnel is a real life
example of what it was like to work below ground.

The area outside the GeologicalPark
is also visitor-friendly, with many scenic walkways, trails for mountain
climbing, as well pagodas and benches to take a rest and enjoy the view.

CyuanjiTemple

The CyuanjiTemple was built in 1896.
It boasts having the largest statue of Guan Gong (關公)—the God of War—in the
world on its roof. The gold and bronze Guan Gong statue weighs more than 25
tons.

Some of the pagodas offer a wonderful view of the bay below.
You can also see the Ying-yang sea.This
is a strange sight where the sea is a mix
of yellow and blue. It was believed that
the sea color was the result of smelting activities from Taiwan Metal Mining
Corp. But, the company stopped activity there over 10 years ago and the Yin-yangSea is still there. Scholars say that
the land in Jinguashi has a large amount of pyrite that has formed Fe3+ which
does not dissolve easily in water. This forms iron ion particles which float
into the sea.

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Souvenir steel lunchbox from one of the diners at the Geological Park

﻿

After walking around the park, I took a bus down to the Gold
waterfall. The waterfall on the golden earth is one of the sources of the
Ying-yang sea.The heavy rain seeps into
the mine shafts through cracks in the rocks, and reacts with the pyrite and
energite underground, undergoing oxidation reduction to become acidulous water.
It is a spectacular sight. It's best to see it after heavy rains for the full
effect.

There are a few other sights around Jinguashi that should be
seen. I will return again soon to take photos of these other places. If you
decide to take a trip here, don't forget to just spend some time walking around
the mountain paths and trails.

For more information about the GoldEcologicalPark, visit their
website: www.gep.tpc.gov.tw